1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell system, and more particularly, to a water supply structure of a fuel cell system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, a fuel cell is an electricity generating device using a fuel and an oxidant gas.
The fuel cell can be classified into a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and a direct oxidation membrane fuel cell.
The fuel cell system using the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell includes a fuel cell main body, a reformer generating reformed gas by reforming a fuel and water and supplying the reformed gas to the fuel cell main body, a fuel tank supplying a fuel to the reformer, and a water tank supplying water to the reformer.
Recently, a fuel cell system using a gaseous fuel such as butane which can be easily purchased in the market was disclosed. In the fuel cell system, reformed gas is generated through a reforming reaction between the gaseous fuel and water in a reformer, and electrical energy is generated through an electrochemical reaction between the reformed gas and an oxidant gas in a fuel cell main body.
In the conventional fuel cell system, a pump used for supplying water to the reformer is included, thereby making miniaturization and weight reduction of the whole system difficult and generating noise. In addition, consumption of electrical energy occurs when the pump operates, thereby decreasing the performance efficiency of the whole system.